merchant



R. L. MERCHANT.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 25. 191s.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

'IIIIIIH New..

INVENToR. BOePiLJPPO/zm 5w' mw l ATTORNEY R. L. MERCHANT.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED 001125. 1918.

1,3 1 5,381 Patented Sept. 9,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEY STATE ROBERT L. MERQHANT, or TRACY, cntrron'mn.

nner-HARVESTER.

Application led October 25,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. MERCHANT, a citizen of the United States, 'residing at Tracy, in the county of San Joaquin, State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beet-Harvesters; and l do declare the following to be a clear, full, Iand l exact description of the same, reference being had to the accom? panying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in beet harvesters, the principal object of the invention being to produce a machine which will pull the beets from the ground, top them, and deliver the topped beets to any suitable receiving device alongside the 'harvester.

Another object is to provide av machine which will be posi-tive in its operation and will not bruise or otherwise spoil the beets while handling them, and which is. adapted to be operated over ground which has not been plowed or du to loosen the beets.

With the metho s in vogue at the present time, either` the topping and pulling is done by hand, o r it takes two or more` machines to do4 the job, one to top the beets and the" other to harvest them. With my improved harvester, the cost and waste of time thus involved is done away with and the, beets are pulled, topped and delivered without being touched by human hands vat any stage of the recess.

A. stl further object of the inventionis to produce a simple and easily operated de vice and yet one which will be extremely etlicient for the purpose for which itis designed. Y

These objects, l accomplish by means of srch structure and relative arrangement of the parts as will fully appear by perusal "of the following specification and'claim. f

@n the drawings, similar characters offrreference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation' of my improved harvester,.showing the same in operation,with the beet elevating chute and holding frame removed.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the y topping knives and the beet-removing iin, y i l orers. b Referring now more particularly to they Specication of Letters Patent.

near the drivers seat lllatelnuted Sept; 9,

1919. 191e. serial no. 259,604. r

characters of reference on the drawings, the

numeral 1 designates the main frame which is suitably mounted between front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3, the front wheels being adapted t0 be steered 'by suitably arranged mechanism operable by a lever l positioned Pivotally mounted on the rear aXle 3aL are frames 6; substantially triangular in form. l have shown two sets of these lframes and their coacting parts, but as each one Ais alike and entirely independent of the other, I will only describe the' parts and working of one Aof them for the sake of simplicity. Each set has a pair of such frames, between"the upper corners of which is turnably mounted a flanged roller 7 and at the lower corners a smaller flanged roller 8. These lower rollers are spaced somewhat from the ground, but tothe rear of the roller 8 is another similar roller 9 whose lower surface is normally adjacent the ground. lhe axle 3a has a friction roller 10 keyed thereto, and over all the rollers passes an endless flexible belt 11' Vprovided at short intervals with a plurality of short spikes or prongs 12 projecting outwardly therefrom. p

Just below and forward Aof -the upper roller 7 is a bracket 13 secured to the pivoted frames 6, on which bracket are secured a plurality of knives 14 positioned between the prongs and being substantially parallel to the belt 11 at that point. rlhese knives top the beets held by the prongs andthe cut beets then are diverted into a trough 15 secured to the frame l, having a slatted endless conve er chain 16 passing therethrough, the sproc et 17 of the chain being suitably connected by gearing 18 and chain 19 vwith the rear axle 3a. This trough extends from one side of the machine to the other, and at one end delivers tov a similar trough or chute 20 having a similardriven chain conveyer 21, this latter chute being pivotally mounted at one end as at 22, and adapted to have vertical adjustment in order that it ma Iolel'iver the beets thereon to wagons of di er'ent heights being drawn alongside.

Below said knives' 14 and trough 15 are fingers 23, likewise secured to the bracket 13 and `being spaced between the prongs 1Q. i

rllhese fingers slant toward the belt at their Jfree ends so 'as to just clear the same, so that the beet tops'being held by the prongs will be forced ofi the prongs and onto the'ngers with the downward motion of the belt 11.

These lingers are positioned to deliver into a trough 24' under the vtrough 15 through which runs a conveyer belt 25 actuated through gearing 26 operatively connected with the same means used to run the chain conveyer 16 of thel trough above. This trough terminates a suitable distance beyond one side of the machine, the beet tops being merely .deposited on the ground.

Pivotally nfounted adjacent the front axle.

of the'machine is a double frame 27 extending rearwardly on each side of the frames 6, from whichv frame 27 depends a 'pair of lat members28 which curve toward each other at their lower ends, as at 29, so as to be vspaced apart a distance less than the normal dlameter of a beet, and normally extend under ground for a distance equal to the depth of a beet. ATo such lower ends are secured dat bars 30 which are parallel with the surface of the grcund, and whose front ends are chisel shaped as at 31.

Likewise secured 'to the members 28 are bars 32 which slant upwardly therefrom to the rearthereof, and are parallel to the belt 11 at that point. The bars 30 are secured outside the members 28 and the bars 32 inside the same. I

A lever 33, pivotally mounted'to the frame 1, is connected b suitable link mechanism 34 to the rear or ee Iend of the frame 27 in order that the same may be raised to remove the plow or beet raiser mechanism from the ground.

'A link mechanism 35 is similarly connected to the frame and to the forward end of the frames 6, and to the lever-33 in' order that the belt 11 on the Iframey mayI be raised from contact with the ground when desired to transport the machine from place to place. As before stated, I have shown two sets of frames and belts adapted to harvest two 12 impale the tops of the beetswhile' they are 50 rows of beets at the same time, but of course it is obvious thatas. many sets as may be desired or isA practicable may be included in the onemachine.

In the operation of the device, which may be horse drawn or motor driven, the prongs still in the firm earth ahead of the plow, thus making it certain that the prongs will have a. firm hold on the At the same time that such firm hold is obtained, the low follows along, and owing to its pecu iar con-r struction and to the upwardly slanting bars 32, the beets are notcut out of the ground device, still in practice, such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the inventlon, as dened by the appended cla1m. Having thus'descrlbed my lnventlon, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is z-n u A -In a beet harvester the comblnatlon with a flexible belt having pro thereon ada ted to impale the beets wh e still fast in t e ground, and-sloping gradually upwardy to the rear of the point of impallng; of a plow norm-allypositioned under groundl the .depth of the beets, such plow includln horizontal fbars adapted to cut the earth un er the beets just behind the point of impallng of the prongs therewith, -there being bars extendin rearwardlyand upwardly from the forwa end 'of the horizontal bars, such bars bemg spaced apart a distance equal to the diameter of the beets near their lower ends,- and having a slant parallel to that of the beet, whereby when the harvester is moving forward and the 'beets are im `aled the beets will then be forced out of t e ground by the wedging action of the slantmg bars, and the prongs will not be subjected to the straln of pulling the 'beets out of the ound.

sov

In testimony whereof I a X my signature v in presence of two witnesses. l

ROBERT L. MERCHANT.

.Witnessesz I BERNARD PRIVAT,

FRANK H. CARTER. 

